Ready for a horse race (11/10/03)

This should be fun.

At its best, good politics ought to be entertaining. Hoosier voters were facing the prospect of a pretty boring gubernatorial contest next year, with the Republican presumptive nominee favored in a potential cakewalk on his way to the governor’s mansion.

All of that changed last week.

Joe Kernan — who decided a year ago that he didn’t want to run for governor, only to have the job thrust upon him when incumbent Frank O’Bannon died — turned Indiana politics upside down.

Kernan, who had sometimes seemed uncomfortable in the routine administrative duties of the lieutenant governor, has grabbed onto the job of governor with energy and enthusiasm.

He’s already brought a new vigor and style to the Statehouse in the few short weeks he’s been in office.

And now, after reconsidering his earlier decision, he’s decided to seek a term of his own.

The decision turns what was once the most boring race in the country into one of the most exciting.

Indiana voters are likely to face a choice between two first-rate candidates in Kernan and former White House budget director Mitch Daniels.

Together, they make for exciting electoral chemistry, with clear philosophical differences yet equally clear similarities in terms of intellect and integrity.

This has the makings of one fine horse race between two thoroughbreds. — J.R.

[[In-content Ad]]